Cat Boy

22 | cat shelter day

Wednesday is awkward.

It's designated cat shelter day, and cat shelter days mean Daehyun, which is always good, but this time Vernon can't help but feel awkward—more so than usual, that is. That's a given, considering he has to spend two hours locked in with the girl he has a crush on whom he's been avoiding for the past week.

Okay, maybe it isn't all on him. She's been strangely quiet too, not her usual hyperactive self jumping around the café making bad coffee jokes and physics analogies that don't quite sound right. Communication is a two-way road and both of them have just decided to stay home for a little while.

Vernon has absolutely no doubt that it's all because of that infernal almost-kiss. He wouldn't have even stood close to her had he known what that moment would bring. It had been great while it had lasted, yes. He had felt jackrabbits jackrabbiting in his chest and his entire circuit buzz with too much energy, the close contact making him feel energetic the way even coffee can't.

But those few minutes have ruined their entire relationship.

(Or at least that is what he had convinced himself.)

Vernon and Daehyun work in silence, cleaning cages and feeding the confused cats and sometimes tossing a remark about the smell over their shoulder so it isn't too awkward. Every once in a while, Vernon glances over at her with his lower lip between his teeth, at the very edge of the precipice of saying something before he refrains at the last moment and turns away.

After all, what is there to say?

There are no words he can think of that would fix their problem, or at least not in a jiffy. He can feel a strange charge between them which hadn't been there before, which can either pull them together or draw them apart depending on what they do with it. And yes, he wants to be a little closer, but at the same time, he has a feeling he's going to mess something up.

Joshua's sarcastic snort when Vernon had questioned him about Jeonghan's trustworthiness is still the source of most of his nightmares.

Jeonghan, who's out there right now, probably monitoring them. Jeonghan, who holds all his secrets in the palm of his hand and could blow them to the wind like a bunch of petals without a care if he could.

That scared Vernon. It scares him very much.

"Nice weather," he murmurs shakily, trying to draw his attention away from the subject of the bleached blond lest he should sweat through his shirt. "October is generally colder, but—"

"Don't." Daehyun's word is clipped. She turns towards him slowly, still squatting in front of Livvy's perch. Her eyes are a little sad. "Let's not talk about the weather. I don't want to drop that low."

Vernon holds his breath and nods quickly, turning back to his job of cleaning the cage. It's the one with the Korat, who still refuses to step out because of some strange fear. Maybe it just doesn't like its housemates, something Vernon can understand.

He's the only one the foreign cat even allows to come near the cage. Vernon thinks it's an honor. Daehyun thinks it's hilarious. Or at least she did.

No one's laughing now.

Vernon bites his lip, dropping the rag, and lets his eyes flick up to the lone clock in the small area, shaped like a lucky cat. Fifteen more minutes. Doubt and curiosity gnaw at his mind, slowly scratching away his embarrassment like it's the stuff on top of a scratch card. He glances at Daehyun sideways, unsure how to start.

"That night," he starts, and her hands pause briefly in their work on the basins. They both know which night he's talking about. "Where were you before you came to the apartment?"